If you haven't already seen it, the latest Zentangle newsletter is out, with instructions to a beautiful tangle, "Betweed". There's even a link to a video that shows Maria drawing the tangle. This is a not-to-be missed viedeo for zentangle enthusiasts!

New member Wolfeyes62 has posted 9 new patterns, and SkinnyStrayCat has posted another. Because of time constraints I'm going to just list the link to Freehand Doodle patterns--I'll try to come back and list them seperately when I'm able to work from home.

This is an easy pattern. But it does bite. There's a lot of depth here--some columns seem closer than others. But when you start adding highlites, the depth may reverse on you. You'll exclaim "Oh, Poodle!" but it's an illusion. You didn't get it wrong. Stop. Then continue. If you do get off count, don't worry. When you fold cloth, the patterns don't always line up. Your Galatea will seem more real for not matching perfectly.

I am in a mood today. So....is my example a Zentangle or not? There's sort of an ongoing question among ZT'ers. At what point does a zentangle cease to be a zentangle and become something else?

I drew strings with a micron, and then drew Fescu. Then Galatea. Then Bubbles & Quatiny variations. I had a vague idea of turning my Bubbles into Nipa. Color suddenly seemed desirable for the bubbles, so I grabbed some tombows and ended up coloring the page. Little thought here--I know how my colors work toget…

I get asked a lot about the way I use color and textures. I have the good fortune to live on a small lake. It's man-made, more or less. It was wetlands, and then farmland full of berry bushes. Left on it's own, it was this huge puddle called Mud lake. Nowadays, they use it for drain off and call it Fairview lake. However, it's about 2 blocks away from the Columbia River, and as a result, we get these spectacular sunsets. That wasn't a digression. When I was doing ATCs, I painted a lot of sunsets. What better teacher can there be than the natural palette from earth, sky and water? Sometimes I think I'm the most fortunate person in the world.

I've had this pattern for months, and for some reason, just never got around to posting it. It is a bit similar to my pattern Inersis (http://lifeimitatesdoodles.blogspot.com/2010/05/my-tangle-patterns-inersis.html) but it's created in a totally (and eaiser) fashion. It reminds me of a stack of turbans!, but it's great for borders or strings or you can group it together to get a floral look. ﻿

When you look at Vorago, it should seem familiar, if you've played with my interlace patterns. It's sort of the scaffolding of a basic design for building that kind of pattern. As you can see from the variations and my example, you can build on it in many ways. Leave it sparse--show off the bare bones--or slap on some eye-bending stripes or hatching. Use a grid and match them up. Draw one very large Vorago, and use it as a string. You've got two ways to approach this. You can create a very elegant, and brilliant interlace intersection with precise lines. I recommend a ruler and a solid flat surface. Going for elegance helps you learn to master your lines and make them do what you want. Or think in interesting ways. I'm not saying this is better. It is both easier and harder. Precision is an element of interest, in and of itself. But if you forgo precision, you must replace it with other elements of interest. Dramatic shading, that can both enhance and hide unin…

So--this alien decides to invade Earth and study the design principle of Notan. He zorphs his shape (that's what these aliens do--they zorph) into this funky meteorite shape.

But once he lands, he catches a few 'sodes of the Twilight Zone, and realizes he'll be broken into itty-bitty pieces and examined on the lab table if he stays a meteorite.

It's too soon, and his zorph power hasn't fully revved up, so he's gotta change into something pretty similar. He brasers (that's reading using his natural brain laser capabilities) the Britannica encyclopedia and decides a Puffer fish is his best bet. Only, he didn't read too closely and kinda missed that a cadillac sized Puffer fish rolling down the highway is kinda like..well...kinda like a really huge fish out of water.

Nasa, the CIA, the FBI and homeland security are all on his tail and in desperation he uses the last of his Zorph. All he can manage is a mandala, and not a very shapely one at that.

Revbyrd left a comment on one of my patterns asking for a simple example of the tangle pattern 'Floo'. She explained that she and a friend both had far different ideas of what 'Floo' is. My suspicion is that both she and her friend are both correct in their vision. Floo is one of the simplest, yet most flexible of tangles. It's one of the 20 patterns that you get in the Zentangle kit, and as far as I know, no one has posted the steps online. At its most basic Floo is a series of curved lines ending in a dot, then surrounded by an 'aura'. Intersections and open space are often darkened, either solid or with lines. That doesn't sound fancy, but it is capable of becoming one of the most intricate and elegant of tangles. In case, you haven't realized, I really, really like Floo! I'm incapable of doing anything 'simple', but hopefully this example will help. As you can see, there is a lot of room for variation. A couple more of my zens…

Certainly not an original idea, but I chose to draw it up for two reasons. It shows the power of repetition, and it's a good exercise for drawing circles (lol!). Note in step two how I add the circles. They're harder to control, both in shape and size, so do them first. Those little diamond/cross things can easily be squeezed in, after.

I was playing around with one of the classic patterns (see cutout) and came up with this twist. ...and it twists 'round and 'round!

Just for grins, I also wanted to discuss the reason I use so many different layouts for my patterns. There are pros and cons, and I know the constant change can be offputting for some people. The pros for a 'style' start with precision. It is also easier for me to draw the steps, and for people to follow them, because we 'learn' what is repeated often enough. Some people just don't like chaos, and order is very important to them.

But there's more than one reason that I switch around. Partly, I'm a 'grass is greener' sort of person, and I'm always convinced that there's a better way to layout a pattern, so it will be more beautiful, and easier to follow. That's my impulse reason.

I almost called this one 'Shadow', but then I found this word 'Galanty', which is a kind of Shadow play. What better name, because you should play around with these shadows. Any shape works. Try the shadows on top,on the bottom. Elongate them. Add a little space between shape and shadow. Then decide where the light is coming from, and place the highlight to show it. And remember to have fun! If no such shadowing exists in nature--why you've just created a whole new shadow play!